The juice is worth the squeeze! Consistently, 15 years ago we would feed bigger cows, 1500lb cows, they’d eat cake and 35 lbs of hay. We’ve managed to cut the daily hay down to 20 lbs – with a cow herd that’s down to 1250 lbs in the middle of our Nebraska winters. Riomax® has been a big part of being able to cut this feed intake back. Prairie hay off the meadows and Riomax® is all we feed them. And they’re still holding a 5.5 – 6.5 condition score in the middle of January.
We do a lot of ET work, in the past we’d see 40-50% conception rates. But now, we’re at 75-80%. That is a lot of money in embryos and labor that are being utilized and not missed!
Weaning weight averages are up 40 lbs compared to what we’ve seen back in the day, plus we’re running smaller framed cows then we used to.
Last thing I want to be sure I mention, is the health of the herd. I wouldn’t say we had terrible issues in the past, but plenty of cases where the cost to treat added up quick. Not only is it labor, its stress on the animal which interferes with gain and performance, but the cost of the bottle it self is usually quite pricey. Since we’ve offered Riomax® consistently to the herd, were down to next to none that need to be treated!